10 Social Networks For Special Interests

Vertical, or specialized, social networks connect you with people and and business opportunities around specific industries or affinities -- whether you're a doctor, or a cat lover.

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Founded in 2004 by three MIT engineers, PatientsLikeMe is a site on which members can share treatment and symptom information, as well as find -- and participate in groups and discussions with -- people who have similar conditions.

This is a very good post. Vertical social media will only continue to be on the rise as people find way to connect with people of common interests globally. This shall be send in many disciplines as people retract from the generalities offered by twitter, facebook, google+, just to name a few. To add to the list of vertical upcoming sites are ihadcancer.com and Zhleet.com

The thing I wonder is whether there will be multiple, disparate social networks, or whether generalist social networks will figure out a more effective way for users to form groups that meet their respective and specific needs.

Even with the creation of groups within a general network, it will not have the necessary feature details available in a niche network. More and more people will find niche networks more appealing as features within that niche are tailored to the niche and the needs of its target audience. Groups have been around for a while within general networks but people are not satisfied of having their main interest just be a microcosm in a macrocosm with limited offerings. They want their interest to be a macrocosm in itself. The reason we shall be seeing more people embracing these dedicated vertical networks such as allnurses.com for example and a host of many others. However, the great question is how many of them will grow global and gain global traction? Do there have what it takes to penetrate communities beyond the US? That's where i see an issue, which none the less can be handled depending on the type of vertical network.

I see your point. Networks like Doximity, which is geared for doctors, can take users' special considerations in mind. (For example, HIPAA concerns.) It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, especially as Facebook and Twitter beef up their native services.

Yes, HIPAA is a major concern. However, HIPAA laws can be managed if appropriate security measures are put in place from ground up - something which many networks such as FB are still struggling with. Doximity is good and HIPAA friendly too but more US oriented as opposed to global. For any social network to command investment dollars and succeed, it must have a global vision. Talking with the founder of Zhleet.com,I was made to understand their vision is beyond the US social market.HIPAA is also a concerned there as well. I believe the next couple of years will be interesting.However, my bet is on the vertical players. They might not grow as big but they will most likely have a strong potential of staying in business for a while - with good management though.

Respondents are on a roll: 53% brought their private clouds from concept to production in less than one year, and 60% ­extend their clouds across multiple datacenters. But expertise is scarce, with 51% saying acquiring skilled employees is a roadblock.